Roger Sterling
Roger Sterling, Jr. is a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency Advertising Agency in Manhattan, NY. Prior to that, he worked for the Sterling Cooper advertising agency. ("Smoke Gets in Your Eyes") His father Roger Sterling, Sr., was one of the founders of Sterling Cooper in 1923. History Roger's past has been pieced together through his many recollections during the show. He was born in 1916 and is the son of Sterling Cooper co-founder Roger Sterling Sr. Because of this, Roger grew up in wealth. Always nautically minded, he claims to have sailed a tramp steamer to Hilton Head as a young man, though it was later revealed to have been a yacht. As he often mentions, Sterling is a World War II Naval veteran. Prior to his deployment to the South Pacific, he was in an intense relationship with Anabelle Mathis, heiress to the Caldecott Farms dog food company. She ended their affair shortly before he shipped out, leaving Roger devastated. In "Red in the Face", Roger's war recollections of taking his ship off course suggest he was the skipper of a ship running fuel between islands; however, given his age, it is more likely that he was a junior officer in charge of the ship’s navigational watch team. Later in Season 4, however, he begins to tell Joan a story about being onboard a destroyer. For his time in the service, Roger was given a medal (which he claims he received "for drinking"), and has since harbored a hatred for the Japanese. Following the war, Roger began to work at his father's company, where he takes a dislike to fellow veteran Freddy Rumsen, believing him to have been a "coward" in the Signal Corps. The animosity disappeared when Roger learned Rumsen was only put there after having killed a number of Germans in combat. Women *Annabelle Mathis, heiress to the Caldecott Farms dog food company. ("The Gypsy and the Hobo") *Daisy ("For Immediate Release") *Ida Blankenship, Don Draper's secretary. Roger had an affair with her when they were both young; he calls her the "Queen of Perversions". ("The Suitcase") *Jane Siegel, Don Draper's former secretary. Roger marries her between seasons 2 and 3. *Joan Holloway, Sterling Cooper's office manager. See: Joan and Roger. *Marie Calvet, Megan Calvet's mother. *Mirabelle Ames, 1 of 2 twins hired by Sterling Cooper as models for Cartwright Double-sided Aluminium. ("Long Weekend") *Mona Sterling Sterling Cooper Some time in the 1950s, Roger enters Heller's, a specialty shop dealing in fur coats to buy Joan a fur coat, where Don Draper is employed as a salesman. Roger comments on an advertisement for Heller's and Don states that it is one of his own. Roger hands Don a card showing that Roger works for an advertising firm. When Roger opens the box for Joan in a hotel room, he realizes that Don has included a portfolio; he considers Don to be "out of line" for including it. A few days later Don runs into Roger in the lobby of Sterling Cooper, and tries to explain it away as coincidence. He asks Roger if he saw his work; Roger tells him that it was thrown away with the box. Don offers Roger a drink, and though it is 10am, Roger accepts. Over drinks, Don tries to sell Roger on the idea of hiring him. A few days later, Roger sees Don in the lobby again, waiting for the elevator. Roger is beside himself, angry that Don could not take a hint that he was not interested. Don stops Roger; while they board the elevator, he reminds Roger that he had hired Don the previous day. Don smiles as Roger appears confused about his lapse in memory. ("Waldorf Stories") On the Friday before Labor Day weekend in 1960, Sterling Cooper loses the Dr. Scholl's account. Roger attempts to cheer Don up by arranging for a pair of twins to spend the night with them. This results in Roger having a heart attack. ("Long Weekend") The following October, Roger returns to the office, but has a second heart attack during a meeting with Lee Garner Sr., the head of Lucky Strike. As a result, Don is offered a partnership in Sterling Cooper. ("Indian Summer") In 1962, Roger begins an affair with his secretary, Jane Siegel. He eventually leaves Mona, and proposes marriage to Jane. They married sometime in early 1963. Their happiness is short-lived, and their marriage causes friction between Roger and his daughter, Margaret, who asks that Jane not attend her wedding. A New Company When rumors of the purchase of Putnam, Powell and Lowe, parent company of Sterling Cooper get out in December, 1963, Don pushes Bertram Cooper and Roger Sterling, the original senior partners, to attempt a re-purchase of the company. After presenting an offer, they are rebuffed, until they hit upon an idea. Lane Pryce, the representative from PPL with authority over everyone at Sterling Cooper, agrees to fire the senior partners, thereby severing their contracts (including the no-compete clauses in their contracts) and join them in forming a new agency. They secretly round up a list of clients loyal to them and steal important documentation that will assist the transition. They also quietly select the first employees: Pete Campbell, Peggy Olson, Joan Holloway, and Harry Crane. ("Shut the Door. Have a Seat") SCDP Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (SCDP) receives word that Honda is looking for a new advertising agency. Roger blames the Japanese for the deaths of his friends during World War II and states that he does not want their business. In order to enable SCDP to proceed without Roger, Pete plans a meeting for Roger to attend; it would take place at the same time that the Japanese were in the office so that Roger would have no knowledge of their actions. In the middle of the meeting with the Honda executives, Roger bursts into the office and starts a rant, stating that they "don't want any of your Jap crap." After he leaves the room, the other members of SCDP apologize for Roger's rude behavior; in the folowing days, they realize that they have likely blown their chance when Honda does not send them a gift. After the initial meeting with Honda, Pete accuses Roger of sabotaging the meeting because, if SCDP started doing business with Honda, they would became "less dependent on Lucky Strike and therefore less dependent on Roger." Roger rushes Pete, but Don steps in between the two men. After Pete leaves the room, Don tells Roger that Pete was right about this characterization. ("The Chrysanthemum and the Sword") Roger and Don plan on seeing the Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston fight on May 25, though neither are happy about having to go with the Alcoholics Anonymous members, Freddy Rumsen and their client from Ponds. Don eventually cancels his plans to see the fight, much to Roger's dismay. ("The Suitcase") While Joan's husband is at basic training, Roger takes Joan out for dinner. While commenting on the condition of the neighborhood they are walking through, a man mugs them at gunpoint. Roger acts quickly, lowering his head and handing all their possessions over to the mugger. After the mugger runs off, Roger and Joan stop to catch their breath; they began to kiss and make love to one another while pressed against a fence. ("The Beautiful Girls") Roger and Lee Garner, Jr., an executive at Lucky Strike, have dinner at a restaurant. When Lee requests to pay for the meal, Roger senses a problem; Lee apologizes, and tells Roger "It's over," that Lucky Strike is cutting ties with SCDP. He states that the board would like to consolidate the company to one firm, BBDO. Roger, visibly shocked, tells him that this is not the way that families treat one another; he points out all the times he had to lie to cover for Lee. Roger then attempts to haggle with Lee for a 30 day period in which to try and convince Lucky Strike to change their minds. Roger hands Lee's money back to him and pays for dinner himself. Later that night, he makes calls to old contacts, trying to track down new work for the firm. ("Hands and Knees") Ken Cosgrove runs into an account executive from BBDO, who slips him the news. This starts a chain of events that eventually culminates in a meeting of SCDP's partners, blindsiding Roger, who has not told anybody about the break with Lucky Strike. Roger is forced to make a call to Lee; instead of talking to him directly, Roger fakes it by simply repeating his side of the conversation from his dinner with Lee. He is told by Cooper that he failed because he never took himself seriously, and neither did Lee. ("Chinese Wall") Roger promises to fly down and meet with Lee in person. The following day, he calls Joan and admits that he did not actually go out of the city, and that he is just a few miles away. Joan is understandably upset, and does not want to meet him. She promises to meet him later, but when they do meet she does not allow him to act on his impulses, telling him that she is "not a solution to Roger's problems. is just another problem." They hug and he leaves, mentioning that the last time they were intimate was the night they got mugged. Roger and the rest of the partners were frustrated with Don's full page ad, Why I'm Quitting Tobacco. Roger thought of it as a good way to go down in flames. Bert mentioned the hypocrisy of including Don's name and not the rest of the partners. Don declared that he was able to get a good night sleep, to which Bert declared he was resigning from the agency. ("Blowing Smoke") During this time, Roger has been writing his memoirs, Sterling's Gold, in which he reveals that he once had a sexual relationship with Ida Blankenship, and that Bert Cooper was medically castrated by an incompetent doctor. The following season, set in 1967, Roger became insecure about his lack of accounts and overall relevance in the agency. Friction arose between himself and Pete when Roger secretly monitored Pete's calendar to inject himself into client meetings. Roger's unhappy marriage to Jane finally ended after they spoke honestly of their unhappiness while under the influence of LSD. Roger and Jane had sex on one occasion after they separated. Roger also entered into a casual affair with Don's mother-in-law. In 1968, Roger uses information from an airline employee girlfriend to secure a pitch to executives from Chevrolet. After the pitch results in the Chevrolet account being secured, as well as a merger with rival agency, Cutler, Gleason, and Chaough, Roger seems to have reversed his insecurity within the agency. Quotes Roger Sterling: "Hello?" Joan Holloway: "Roger, it's Joan. Joan Harris." Roger: "Jesus, you're lucky I answered. Ginger's not in." Joan: "I know. She has a hair appointment, the last Tuesday of every month." Roger: "She does?" Joan: "And I know that your lunch cancelled." Roger: "What am I wearing?" Joan: "So, how are things?" Roger: "Mr. Hooker has re-arranged the secretaries in the pool alphabetically." Joan: "By cup size?" Roger: "Well, I'd know where you'd be sitting." Joan: "You're making me sorry I called you. I need a favor. I need work." Roger: "Something happen with Mr Cut-Up?" Joan: "He's pursuing his dream in becoming a psychiatrist but that requires more training and I just don't want him moonlighting all the time. Why does it matter?" Roger: "It doesn't, none of my business. Why don't you come back here?" Joan: "Roger, I've been replaced. And a secretary make less money, than if I were working in a department store." Roger: "I'm so glad you called me." Joan: "I'm sorry it had to be for a favour." Roger: "No, I like that you thought of me. You know to ask. You wanna be on some people's minds, some people's you don't." Joan: "That's nice." Roger: "So, do you miss it here?" Joan: "Are you asking if I miss you?" Roger: "Well I guess I am because everything else is different." Joan: "Well, I should go." Roger: "So, how should I work this? You know, if I think of somebody? Do I just give them your number?" Joan: "Look at you, figuring things out for yourself." Roger: "Bye bye, Joanie." -- Joan Holloway calls Roger Sterling for a favor in "The Gypsy and the Hobo". Lane: "There's been a small adjustment to the scale of our Christmas party." Joan: "Lower or higher?" Lane: "Lee Garner, Jr. will be joining us. I trust you'll make the appropriate improvements." Roger: "We need to change its rating from convalescent home to Roman orgy." -- Roger accidentally invites Lee Garner, Jr. to SCDP's Christmas party "Christmas Comes But Once a Year". Trivia *Sterling is a World War II Naval veteran, a detail that becomes particularly relevant in Season 4's "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" when Japanese company, Honda, approaches Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce for a potential client relationship. Bert Cooper, who is a noted admirer of Japanese society, is chosen as SCDP's prominent man for the deal and the other men try to keep Roger away from the deal, as he is enraged at the concept of doing business with natives of a country whom he had been at war with, and seem unswayed by Lane Pryce's arguments that SCDP has accounts with German and Italian firms, which are also countries the US went to war with. Clothing/Fashion Style Roger Sterling is rich and his wardrobe shows it. Roger's attire often features extras. He will wear a double breasted jacket or a vest. He accents his shirts with tie pins and cuff links. Roger's wardrobe is often mature, but his adventures into the culture of the anti-establishment, including the LSD crowd and Hollywood, have caused him at times to update to his wardrobe with casual accessories such as an ascot or sports jacket. Gallery Slattery_mm1.jpg| Roger-sterling.jpg| 361450.jpeg| 361449.jpeg| MM5 OnSet 2493 2478 combo rgb120309124517.jpeg The waldorf stories clios joan don roger.jpg|”Waldorf Stories” Joanclios.jpg|Roger and Joan at the Clios S7B cast 02.jpg| Faye.jpg|Joan, Ken, Roger, Lane and Faye at SCDP 361450.jpeg| 361449.jpeg| 02.jpg|”For Those Who Think Young” Roger and joan in the beautiful girls at dinner.jpg|”The Beautiful Girls” MM5 OnSet 2493 2478 combo rgb120309124517.jpeg| Joan and roger in beautiful girls.jpg|”The Beautiful Girls” S7B Roger Sterling 01.jpg| S7B Roger Sterling 02.jpg| Category:Male Category:Sterling Cooper Category:Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce Category:Sterling Cooper & Partners